On Love and Data: Virtual Verbal Description Workshop with Stephanie Dinkins

Join Stephanie Dinkins in a behind-the-scenes exploration of her current Queens Museum exhibition On Love and Data, followed by an interactive workshop and conversation about the exclusionary nature of artificial intelligence (AI), the inadequacies with AI-generated Alt-Text, and the steps we can take to create more equitable datasets. This Verbal Description program is designed for individuals who are blind or have low vision.

This program takes place online on the Zoom platform and is organized in partnership with Queens Museum’s ArtAccess team. This will be an interactive workshop, including participant response and engagement.

The program is free with advanced registration. Please sign up here.

Participants are encouraged to:

• Consider the inadequacies in AI-generated Alt-Text and what AI needs from us to improve
• Think about which details are necessary to include in an ideal Alt-Text description
• Bring thoughts around what your data means to democracy and/​or governance

Suggested Readings:

• The Hidden Image Descriptions Making the Internet Accessible
• Black data matters: How missing data undermines equitable societies
• Machine Bias: There’s software used across the country to predict future criminals. And it’s biased against Blacks.
• Data, justice and power: how data can light the way to a fairer world

Stephanie Dinkins (b.1964) is a transmedia artist who creates platforms for dialogue about race, gender, aging and our future histories. Dinkins’ art practice employs emerging technologies, documentary practices and social collaboration toward equity and community sovereignty. She is particularly driven to work with communities of color to co-create more equitable, values grounded in social and technological ecosystems. Dinkins is a professor at Stony Brook University where she runs the Future Histories Studio a Mellon Foundation funded multidisciplinary lab.. Dinkins earned an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and is an alumna of the Whitney Independent Studies Program. She exhibits and publicly advocates for inclusive AI internationally at a broad spectrum of community, private and institutional venues. Dinkins is a 2021 United States Artist Fellow and Knight Arts & Tech Fellow. Previous fellowships, residencies and support include the Artist Fellow of the Berggruen Institute and Lucas Artists Fellow in Visual Arts at Montalvo Art Center, CA Onassis Foundation, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, Creative Capital, Soros Equality Fellowship, Data and Society Research Institute Fellowship, Sundance New Frontiers Story Lab, Eyebeam, Pioneer Works Tech Lab, NEW INC, Blue Mountain Center; The Laundromat Project, Santa Fe Art Institute and Art/ Omi. The New York Times featured Dinkins in its pages as an AI Influencer. Wired, Art in America, Artsy, Art21, Hyperallergic, the BBC, Wilson Quarterly, and a host of popular podcasts have recently highlighted Dinkins’ art and ideas.

For questions or assistance registering for the program contact: artaccess@queensmuseum.org or call 718 592 9700 x130.